


In Our Waking

by ArsenicAndOldLace



Series: Tony Stark Wakes Up in Strange Alleys [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Bipolar Disorder, F/M, Gen, Not Canon Compliant, Palladium Poisoning, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-01
Updated: 2020-07-01
Packaged: 2021-03-04 17:31:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25010164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArsenicAndOldLace/pseuds/ArsenicAndOldLace
Summary: In another alley, another Tony Stark wakes up in a world where his face is known everywhere.
Relationships: Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Tony Stark & Tony Stark, Tony Stark & Vision
Series: Tony Stark Wakes Up in Strange Alleys [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1811473
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7





	In Our Waking

**Author's Note:**

> Non-rich Tony is inspired by Atrata's version of Tony in their amazing fic "Almost No One Makes It Out." I cannot recommend it more highly. 
> 
> As may be obvious to many, I know as much about technology as an average cartoonist. Which gives me more right to write about it since I'm not a professional writer.
> 
> Unbetaed. Barely edited.

Tony's back was incredibly sore and his neck ached. His eyes were closed and he could smell piss and garbage. He probably added to the unpleasant aroma. It wasn't his first time waking up in an alley. He didn't feel hungover though, and that was pretty strange. Finally he decided to open his eyes and face the day. The day was bright, so he decided to unface the day and close his eyes again. He heard footsteps approaching and he called out, "If you're here to rob me, I don't have any money, I spent it all on whiskey yesterday." 

"Bro, is that Tony Stark?" 

"He's got his face, I think it is! My girlfriend is obsessed with him." 

He opened his eyes, how the hell did they know his name? With nothing to lose he asked them, "How the hell do you guys know my name? I know I'm very famous, I'm Iron Man et cetera, but really, where are we?"

The kids kept talking, acting like they couldn't hear him. "Iron Man!"

"Dude, he's Iron Man! We found Iron Man!"

"Hey Mr. Stark, are you okay?" The taller one of the boys, with dark curly hair, asked him. Finally a question he could get behind. Instead of answering their question he asked one of his own.

"Do you know where we are?" 

"Uh-"

"Because I don't know where I am, how I got here, or why you guys know my name, why do you guys know my name?"

"Um. Mr. Stark, you're famous, you're a hero, of course we know you! You saved us!" Exclaimed the shorter boy. 

"You saved my life!" Interjected the taller one.

He narrowed his eyes. There was no way they knew him. He was just an ex-soldier, dishonorably discharged, and his involvement in the defense of New York from aliens was a total secret. The Avengers were a secret. No one except Pepper knew he was Iron Man. Something was horribly wrong. "Can either of you help-"

"Yes!" The short one said without waiting for him to finish.

"-me stand up? I need to look something up online." 

"Use my phone!" The taller one shoved his phone into Tony's hands. The phone was unlike any he had seen before. The name on it was "Stark." He knew all the phones on the market and this wasn't one of them. And he could tell it was a good phone. Maybe there was a different Stark around here. Maybe he hadn't known about them because he was so busy with the Avengers Initiative. But those thoughts were shattered by the taller one saying, 

"I only use Starkphones, Mr. Stark. They really are the best!"

And this just confirmed his problems. He'd seen many strange things since he said yes to Nick Fury, things he didn't think possible, but this might take the cake. He knew his search on the phone would only confirm what he had already guessed. But he had to be certain. He unlocked the phone and tapped "Tony Stark" into the search bar. The first result was a news article by the New York Times: "Stark Backs Sokovia Accords." The next one was by CNN: "Stark, Rogers Exchange Blows at German Airport." More news articles followed, but just those two were enough. Tony Stark was an internationally known superhero. And they knew who Steve was too. He chose not to focus on the content of the articles. He didn't know what really happened at the airport, and the news probably had their head up their ass, that was surely a universal constant. A universal constant.

A cough and a sneeze broke into his thoughts. The taller kid looked embarrassed. "Sorry Mr. Stark, I really need to text my mom, she's probably wondering where I am, it's almost dinner time." 

"Uh. That's alright. I did what I needed to."

He gave the phone back, then just stood there. The taller kid opened his mouth, then closed it again. Tony couldn't keep calling him the taller kid. "Hey kid, do you have a name?"

"Uh- Malique." 

"Nice to meet you, Malique. What's your friend's name?" Malique looked more at ease now that he was on familiar territory. 

"My name's Samarius, Mr. Stark." The shorter one, Samarius now, told him confidently. Malique was back to opening and closing his mouth. Tony wasn't sure what to do to help him get his thought out. 

"Malique, did you text your mom yet?" Moms were normally good. They were safe. 

Malique stuttered again, then finally got his question out. "Mr. Stark, would you like to come over for dinner? We're having lasagna. My grandma made it, it's really good-"

"The dam broke," muttered Samarius.

"-and we know how much you've done for us and the city and the whole world! They wouldn't mind!" Malique continued, unperturbed by his friend's interruption.

Tony felt he was at a crossroads. He had woken up in a whole new world. These kids were the first denizens of earth no. 2 he met. And now they wanted to reward him for something other-him had done. If he accepted, was he taking advantage of them? But when it came down to it, he had no real other choices. He was stuck. He had nothing. He might look like a rich superhero, but he was more like a below-average-income sometimes-super hero who didn't have any backup plans for waking up in a new world. And he had no money and he really wanted a smoke. And a beer. And a shower. 

Malique and Samarius were both gazing at him with burning eyes. "Will you come to dinner Mr. Stark? I texted my ma that you might be coming, she doesn't believe me, but this is the greatest day of my life!" Words flowed out of Malique. Samarius didn't verbally add anything to Malique's speech, nodding along until his chin met his chest. 

He couldn't let them angst any longer. "I'll come. You said she was making lasagna?" 

"Yes! Yes!" Samarius shouted. It caught both Tony and Malique off guard, Tony flinched while Malique's mouth opened up in surprise. Apparently Samarius's outburst was not normal for him. He supposed that finding someone they thought was a superhero in an alley would be really exciting. This other Tony Stark seemed amazing on the surface. He wished he was rich. Maybe he would get invited to more dinners. He always heard that rich people get lots of free stuff. Malique led them off towards his apartment. His chatter broke into Tony's thoughts. 

"-me and Sam are going to highschool next year, we're gonna be engineers just like you! Then, we're gonna be superheroes! I'm gonna be the brawn and Samarius is gonna be the brains, and we're gonna save people and fight aliens! Mr. Stark, what do you think? After Captain America became a war criminal, we need more heroes, I'd never fight you Mr. Stark, we'd be the best!"

Tony had tuned out most of the chatter, he felt bad but he told himself the kid's enthusiasm was meant for this world's Tony. He had to figure out how to get back to his own world. Based off of the Starkphone and the pictures of his other self's armor, contacting him might be the best course of action. He'd have resources and knowledge, something Tony was seriously lacking. How should he contact him? There were probably thousands of people trying to get Stark's attention. Of course, Pepper had told him that he had a special gift for getting attention, and Pepper was always right. He just needed to do more research. Hopefully Malique's mom would let him use a computer. He only had to make it through one dinner without giving away that they had the wrong Stark. He also had to make them like him. He decided he better do a little reconnaissance.

"Hey Malique, what's your mom's name?" 

Malique broke off mid word, still talking about his and Samarius's futures as superheroes. "Her name's Rachel Johnson, my grandma's name is Tori. She doesn't let anyone call her that, you'll have to call her Grandma." 

He thought some more and then added, "we're almost there, my apartment's just on the next block, we're on the third floor."

"Great. Thank you so much Malique. You don't know how much this means to me." 

Malique took his comment gracefully. "We owe almost everything to you, this doesn't even touch on repayment." 

Tony didn't know how much longer he could keep up his ruse. This other Stark sounded amazing, if he could inspire such a reaction. 

They arrived at a door within the complex and Malique pushed right in, the door was unlocked, and he called out, "Ma, we're home, Mr. Stark's here too!" 

"Welcome home Sunshine, I'll believe that when I see that, hello Samarius! Now I know for sure that he's here, it'd be weird if he wasn't." A woman came into the living room, looked up and then froze for a microsecond. 

"Mr. Stark!" She recovered quickly.

"How are you? I wasn't expecting you, even though Malique texted me, it was a bit hard to believe, you understand-"

He broke in on her. "It's alright. Makes sense. I wouldn't believe I was coming either."

"Oh yes, please sit down, would you like a glass of water, soda, milk, we have some beer too!" 

That was an answer to prayer. "Beer, please." He hoped that alcohol worked the same in this universe. He also desperately needed to piss. "Rachel, would you mind if I used your restroom?"

"No problem, it's the first door on the left. When you flush make sure to hold the handle down until it's totally flushed."

"Alright." He went into the bathroom, pissed, sighed with relief then went to flush. He remembered what Rachel said about the toilet, and knew he could easily temporarily fix the problem without having to replace parts. He fixed it, flushed it, then went out to find Rachel, the two boys, a little girl, and an older woman sitting around the table. It smelled amazing. The little girl turned around, saw him, and squealed.

"Iron Man!"

"That's me," he said with a smile. "What's your name?"

"I'm Jade. Do you wanna see my bedroom?" 

Rachel interfered right away, "no, honey, I'm sure the man wants to eat, he's very busy and works very hard. Maybe you can ask again after dinner."

Tony smiled at Rachel in thanks. He was super hungry. "This smells absolutely delicious, I heard you made it?"

The older woman finally spoke, "I did, I might be old and senile but I can still cook." 

He looked at her and doubted she had ever forgotten a thing. She looked like she might remember a time before the glaciers retreated. "Hi, nice to meet you, I'm Tony, what's your name?" 

"It's Jane, Plain Jane or Calamity Jane, depends on the day. But you can call me Grandma." She smiled at him.

He felt peeled back and revealed. He felt loved. Who knew love was food and company? "Thank you so much for inviting me into your home."

"It's not a problem, we're honored. And puzzled." Rachel patted him on the back, setting a beer down in front of him and then sitting down. "I hope you don't mind, we usually pray before we eat."

He didn't believe, but if prayer is what made this place so warm, he was willing to give it a go. "By all means."

Rachel prompted Malique, who then prayed, "Thank you God for this food. Amen."

Jane grinned at him then said, "if anyone goes away hungry, it's their own fault. Dig in! Tony, please hand me your plate."

He handed it over and she put a huge slice of lasagna, oozing cheese, onto his plate. 

"Thanks." 

The rest of the meal consisted of eating and talking. He sidestepped Other-Stark specific questions and stuck to answering questions about his favorite colors, foods, and shoe size. He figured those things were probably universal constants. He also found himself avoiding questions about politics, he had no idea who the current president was, and the other Avengers, who were apparently exiled from most of the world. While he envied the Other-Stark's wealth, he definitely didn't envy whatever had gone down between the Avengers. It sounded awful. And maybe something he should learn about just in case anything like the Sokovian accords came up in his universe. Not only was it September, it was 2017. He had time and universe traveled. What a trip. He wasn't even on drugs. 

After the meal, he asked Rachel if he could borrow a computer. She looked at him funnily, but she let him borrow hers. He needed to do a bit more searching, and he thought about booking a place to sleep, but he realized he was unlikely to fall asleep and the fastest solution would be to go directly to Stark tower. His tower. He smiled, he had a tower! He also wanted to find out just how alike he was to this Stark. If the tower's defences would figure him out. He wondered if the other him had JARVIS. If he did, he was probably much more advanced. Other-him had access to things he could only dream about. Other-him had real opportunities. For fuck's sake, he had a company named after him with Pepper as its CEO, other-him could do anything! He poked at Stark servers, carefully, because he didn't want to cause any trouble traceable to this location. If his other self was vindictive, he didn't want it falling on the Johnsons' heads. He finished up his preliminary research, closed Rachel's laptop, and cracked his back. It was only 9:00 PM. He had memorized his route to the tower and managed to see some rough floor plans. It was time to go and physically poke the prospective tiger. 

Rachel generously loaned him enough change to buy a MetroCard. Soon, he was looking up at a humongous skyscraper. It was 10 PM, but he felt getting in was still worth a try.

According to news sources Stark was at the tower tonight. Hopefully he could help him. If not, Tony was quite good at fixing things himself. 

Sometimes. 

The large glass doors opened automatically, and he walked through them and kept going, trying not to pause. He owned this building. He knew there was a private elevator up to the penthouse and other non-commercial areas. The real test was getting into the elevator. From reports and other evidence, Tony assumed other-him had fully fledged AI. Not that he himself didn't have any AI, but it was amazing what money could do to make things work. He knew, once he joined SHIELD his budget went up immensely, and so did the quality and variety of things he could make. The desk security smiled at him and he tried to give eye contact and make his lips twitch up. Judging by the guard's total nonresponse, it was good enough. He went to the elevator, and the doors opened automatically. 

"Which floor, Boss?" Chirped out female voice.

This must be the AI. He didn't even know her but he loved her. 

"...uh, take me to my lab." Firm. Assertive. Totally legit. 

"You got it Boss! Going up!"

A good start. But he was pretty sure the AI, and possibly himself, already knew something was up. But that was just fine. 

All he had to do was get in the room with Mr. Other-Stark and talking would do the rest. Possibly. He took as deep a breath as he could. The AI spoke again, he jumped. 

"We're here Boss." The doors opened and he stepped out. The hallway was barely lit, and there was a chair at the end of it. The chair spun around and there was his face. Older. With really, really, defined eye bags. He hadn't looked good in press photos and videos, but he looked even worse in person. Which was saying something. And then Tony heard a whine from behind him. 

"Who are you?" demanded Stark. Tony thought about it. He figured the truth might get him a little further than a lie about a long lost brother or super fan. 

"My name is Antonio, I'm from New York, my dad's name was Howard Stark, my mom's name was Maria. He was an atheist Jewish boy, she was Costa Rican and Catholic." 

"You realize that's not correct. My name's Anthony, my dad was Jewish, but my mom was Italian. And you're not me. Who are you?"

"Well, you're right, I'm not really you-"

A mid-speech eye roll, fantastic. Good start. He wasn't dead yet. His breathing was a little fast and painful around the edges, but at least he was breathing. "-but I am a you. I'm from another universe-"

"Jesus."

"-and I need your help."

"Jesus. Yeah, okay, sure. You look like me. Great. Why not?" 

Tony kindly didn't comment. He decided he'd give the other Tony a bit of space to process. He finally looked over his shoulder to examine the armor he heard behind him. It was absolutely gorgeous. And still pointing its palm repulsors at him. 

Not ideal. 

He poked at it, nothing major happened. It looked at him quizzically. He related. "Yeah, I've got a couple questions too," he murmured. He jerked when the armor suddenly backed off and sat down criss cross applesauce on the floor. Okay. He guessed Stark had decided he wasn't worth a repulsor blast. Time to turn around and face the future. 

'Hey Mr. Maybe-Me, come back here, we all have a couple questions. First things first, ground rules: I will do anything to stop you if you step one foot out of line on this earth. Full send. No quarter. I will not sleep until you're contained."

"You already look like you don't sleep, I'm not sure that'd be a change."

Stark stared at him. Heavily. Almost as heavy as his eyebags must weigh. God, was that what he was going to look like in 10-20 years? He hoped not. The weightiness wasn't just from the eyebags, this man had seen something. Something greater than any human ought to see. Maybe that was the future. He really had to keep an eye out. 

"Great. Just- don't say anything too obnoxious." 

"I need your help. I need to leave, and go back to my own universe."

"Your own universe. Huh. How's it going there, any alien invasions lately?" Tony could hear the unasked question. Is your universe doing better than mine? How can I fix this?

But he couldn't answer those questions. He had thought things were going alright. The more he learned, the more things stood out as suspicious in his own universe. While SHIELD was his salvation from the army and prison, there were things that were odd. Things unexplainable within the agency's professed goals. Money trails that went nowhere. Missing people. He had been starting to dig into these, but then he woke up in an alley in another universe. Nothing put aside well-placed plans like a little bit of universe hopping. 

"Nothing like this place. I hope not. That's why I have to go back." 

"Maybe your universe will be better off without you Mr. Stark. Not that we need another one here. But consider: maybe you can't help them. Maybe all of your plans to fix the future wreck it."

This was getting too serious. He didn't come here to get dissected. "Stop projecting your problems onto me. I'm not really you. And from what I've heard, you're a great guy. Quite possibly one of the best. It's a little hard for me to believe, because I know myself, but my informants are reliable. They don't know how to lie."

Stark didn't even bother responding. Okay. 

He didn't hear anything but the raspy sound of other-Stark's breathing for a couple of long seconds. His own breathing didn't sound much better. How did Stark live this long? 

"Trust me. You're not the only one who's asking that question."

He blinked. He didn't mean to say that out loud. 

Stark continued. "How are you doing with the palladium in your chest?"

How'd Stark know that? He had to have advanced imaging installed just to detect it, though that fit in with what little he knew of this Stark. Near-unlimited resources. 

"I'm fine. I'm great. To die or to die, that's the question, right?"

"How's your memory? Your inhibitions? You clearly have an arc reactor in your chest."

He gritted his teeth. "I'm great." Please. He would be. He just needed more time. To find something. Anything. 

Other-Stark sighed, as if his little lie increased his clearly enormous burden to an unbearable load. "You have no clue. But I'm going to ignore your small lies for now and we'll look at your bigger ones tomorrow afternoon." 

“Other dimensional visitors to attend to?” 

"None of your business. My suit will show you to your new digs." 

Other-Stark clearly had a lot going on. Much more important than a little interdimensional visit. Or possible shapeshifter. If Tony was Stark he'd suspect the government of experimenting or trying to get to him with a brand-new form of psychological horror, or tech. Though he supposed if FRIDAY could detect heavy metal poisoning, she could tell that he was really some form of Stark.Tony followed his lead. If he was him, which he was to some extent, he would confine him with no tech. Which might be impossible in this tower, if even half of what he suspected was true. 

The suit behind him stood up and gestured for him to follow. How could he refuse such a kind invitation. Maybe he'd get to check out the suit. Even with some SHIELD funding, he was sure that what he had access to was lesser, not just because other-him was a billionaire, but also because he appeared to be several years ahead of him. He went into the room the suit led him to and sat down on the couch. Breathing hurt and he was ready to sleep, even with the suit glaring at him. 


End file.
